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Media MOSCOW—Russia threatened to quit the nuclear treaty with the United States,
known as Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), after Washington
deployed a ballistic missile defense destroyer to Spain to boost NATO's
anti-missile shield in Europe.

The deployment of the Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook, equipped with
the Aegis shipboard integrated combat weapons system, was announced by
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Munich Security Conference on
Saturday.

"An important posture enhancement is European missile defense in
response to ballistic missile threats from Iran, "Hagel said, adding
that the US is committed "to deploying missile defense architecture
there," as a part of Phase 3 of the European Phased Adaptive Approach
(EPAA).

Hagel also said that over the next two years, three additional
Aegis-enabled missile defense-capable destroyers will join the effort to
protect NATO countries on the European continent.

"There are some capabilities that the United States military will
continue to invest heavily in," Hagel told the Munich conference. "We will continue to be the world leader in those kinds of capabilities."

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry's top disarmament
official, Mikhail Ulyanov, warned that if the US continues boosting its
anti-missile capabilities through developing its missile defense system
in Europe, Russia may eventually be forced to withdraw from START.

“We are concerned that the US is continuing to build up missile
defense capability without considering the interests and concerns of
Russia," Ulyanov told Interfax. "Such a policy can undermine
strategic stability and lead to a situation where Russia will be forced
to exercise [its] right of withdrawal from the [START] treaty."

Ulyanov said that "at the current stage" Russian experts estimate
that the US missile defense system "has not yet reached a level that
would represent a threat to the efficiency of Russian strategic
deterrence forces." Add
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